Ex-Washington cattleman Cody Easterday, serving time for wire fraud, will pursue his claim that his victim, Tyson Fresh Meats, reneged on an oral contract to spilt profits from selling “Cody’s Beef” in Japan.

Easterday’s attorneys on Nov. 27 appealed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian that dismissed the lawsuit.

Easterday has not filed a brief laying out his case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Easterday said in a statement issued Nov. 29 that his crime shouldn’t excuse the allegations against Tyson.

“I have accepted responsibility for my wrongdoing and seek that Tyson, likewise, accept responsibility for its own wrongdoing,” he said.

Efforts to obtain comment from Tyson were unsuccessful.

Tyson denies side deal

Easterday, 52, is serving an 11-year sentence at a federal prison in Lompoc, Calif., for defrauding Tyson out of $233 million. Easterday supplied cattle to Tyson’s beef plant in Pasco, Wash., and over several years billed Tyson for procuring and feeding more than 265,000 head of cattle that didn’t exist.

Easterday pleaded guilty to wire fraud and liquidated his family’s farming and ranching empire in Eastern Washington in bankruptcy court. He still owes Tyson $177 million in restitution, according to court records.

Easterday alleges Tyson owes him an unspecified amount of money for using his name and photo in a joint-marketing campaign between Tyson and Japanese food conglomerate Nippon Ham. The venture began in 2013 and continued as late as June 2022, according to Easterday’s attorneys.

There was no written profit-sharing contract, and Tyson denied making a side deal over “Cody’s Beef” separate from its cattle-buying agreement with Easterday Ranches.

Easterday provided an email exchange with Tyson executives in which he asks about his “cut.” Bastian ruled the exchange didn’t provide enough details to prove Tyson made an offer and that Easterday accepted it.

“Moreover, the terms of the alleged oral contract are so indefinite that the court wouldn’t be able to enforce it,” wrote Bastian, who also sentenced Easterday.

Also, according to Bastian, Easterday’s “unclean hands” prevented him from recovering any money from Tyson.

Easterday alleges he provided 65,000 head of cattle for the Cody’s Beef campaign. Bastian noted that cattle were the vehicle for his fraud against Tyson.

Bastian also dismissed a lawsuit Easterday filed accusing Tyson of anti-trust activities. Easterday’s attorneys have not appealed that dismissal.